Chinese-English Translation · Composition

Jam Hsiao: Where Are You?/ 蕭敬騰: 你會在哪呢？- English translation

This song – a classic break-up song – is not too tricky to learn or sing. The lyrics illustrate nicely the way in which tenses in English often don’t have a 1:1 relationship with those in Chinese. For example, the title “你會在哪呢？”, for example, is not really “where will be you be”, but “where are you?”. The first couple of lines are really hypothetical statements, but are just written as simple statements (apparently of fact) in Chinese.

As always, I’ve included both idiomatic and literal translations, along with a few extra notes.

趕走的是瘋癲 我 一個人待
Running away would be crazy; I’d be all on my own

不走的是想念啊 我 心被困在～
Staying would make me think of you; my heart’d be trapped[There are examples in both lines of adjectives and verbs being repurposed as nouns, specifically 瘋癲 ‘crazy’ and 想念 ‘to miss’]

越是懂得放手 越是作繭自縛
The more you let go, the more trouble you make for yourself[Lit. More know-how-to let go / more trap-yourself-in-cocoon][作繭自縛 is obviously a 成語, with a metaphorical meaning as translated above]

愛情裡總 沒有一個人能說走就走 就算裝得很灑脫
No-one in love can ever just leave, no matter how easy they make it look[Lit. Love inside always / no one person can say-leave-then-leave / even if pretend (adverb marker) easy-and-carefree]

嘿～ 我藏了好多話沒說
Hey… There’s a lot I want to say, but I’ve been keeping it to myself[Lit. Hey… I hide-already many words not say]

以為這就是成熟 就連後悔 眼神不能躲
I thought that was the mature thing to do… but the expression in my eyes reveals my regret[就連後悔 眼神不能躲: Lit. Even regret / eye-expression cannot hide]

嘿～此刻我真的想你了
Hey… Right now I really want you back…[Note: no ‘back’ in Chinese, but it’s implied]

你會在哪呢？會不會偶爾想起我？
Where are you? Do you think of me from time to time?

舊地方 走幾遍 我試著 能遇見
I’ve been through the places we used to go a few times, hoping to run into you[Lit. Old place / walk few times / I trying / able run-into-you]
[舊地方 or 老地方 normally refers to a place that you’re familiar with, rather than one that’s actually old]

念著回不去的愛 我的逞強像活該
Thinking about our days together; but I guess I got what I deserved[Lit. Thinking-about cannot-return love; I stretched-too-far like get-what-I-deserve][逞強 indicates that you tried to do something you weren’t capable of; it’s kind of advanced and not very common. 活該 is a noun used to mean someone who gets what they deserve. It’s often heard as an admonishment.]